“The servant who received one talent went off, dug a hole in the ground, and buried the master’s money.” – Matthew 25.19

The master in the parable of the talents puts servants in charge of huge amounts of money. A worker in Jesus’ time earned one denarius for a day’s work, so a laborer who worked six days a week earned 340 denarii a year. One talent equals a worker’s earnings for17 years. The master is not giving the servants a pittance to test their trustworthiness. They have received a windfall. The priceless windfall each of us has received is life itself. Our ancestors have invested themselves in relationships and efforts that bring us to be. Jesus invested his life in the human race, identifying with us totally unto death, opening to us all we can become in God. How do we use their extravagant down payments on ourselves? Sunday’s parable calls us to multiply the gifts entrusted to us.

If you were one of the 2,043 on Forbes Billionaires List 2017, how would you invest for the good of the whole? What is one of the most valuable ways you have invested your life energies?